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The lure of a perfect location

Tong Hahn, founder of Parklane Residence's builder KobenHavn, and Sue MacKay, of 52 Pick-up Inc. design and communications, stroll the grounds at Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens. The renowned public grounds will be a featured view from new townhomes to be built alongside the park. (Vince Talotta / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Flowers make good neighbours. Just ask retirees Garry and Ann Sclisizzi, whose home of 50 years overlooks Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens, a pebble’s toss from Port Credit on Mississauga’s waterfront.

“It’s beautiful. It’s a nice area, very quiet,” Garry says.

They enjoy the park’s “lovely walking trails,” adds Ann, noting that “people with (urban) poles, bikes and baby carriages” are a common sight.

The seven-hectare green space bordering Lake Ontario boasts not only the largest collection of rhodies in the province but kaleidoscopic displays of roses, peonies, hydrangeas, hostas and wildflowers.

It was the “serene beauty” of the location that inspired developer Tong Hahn to create Parklane Residences, 18 luxury townhomes that will be built up the lane from the Sclisizzis. But just as important as that idyllic backdrop for the modern, four-storey units, says Hahn, is the “village charm” of historic Port Credit, where everything you need is just a short jaunt away.

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There are shops, services, cafés, restaurants, entertainment, recreation, fitness facilities, the Waterfront Trail and a GO station. And if water activities are your thing, there’s the marina and canoe and rowing clubs.

The neighbourhood, with its “very rare, pastoral-like setting,” deserves an upscale project, says Hahn, founder of development company KobenHavn. Parklane’s three-and four-bedroom townhomes, with a starting price of $900,000, were designed so that access is from a laneway at the back, and the fronts and terraces overlook the Gardens.

“That view will never go away,” he says. “This is it. It’s the last development that will go in there because the city will never sell the park.”

Tucked into a tree-lined enclave off Lakeshore Rd. W., west of Mississauga Rd., the cultured stone and brick conjoined houses will be easy to miss — “which is a good thing,” says Hahn.

Resident Monica McArthur calls the area’s “walkability” its best feature, comparing it to Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood where her family lived before moving west two years ago.

“We love living here,” says the teacher and mother of a 2- and 4-year-old whose home flanks the Parklane site. “Everyone’s so proud to live in this little community.”

That’s the kind of endorsement developers welcome for residential projects that take full advantage of everything a neighbourhood has to offer.

Brian Brown, one of the principals behind The Code Condos at St. Clair and Parkwood Aves. in Forest Hill, says his firm did a walkability search of the site for the development — just like prospective purchasers do.

“People go and see the exact location and they walk the streets around it,” says Brown, vice-president of Lifetime Developments. Residents of The Code’s nine-storey boutique building of 106 suites and 10 townhomes flanking one of Toronto’s largest parks — Sir Winston Churchill — will have easy access to subway, streetcar, historic Forest Hill Village with its shops and eateries, and a newly renovated Loblaws.

Across town in Leaside, The Upper House condos at Laird Dr. and Millwood Rd. will also get a leg-up from local attractions that include a Longo’s grocery store, parks, restaurants, schools and a rejuvenated community centre right across the street.

“It’s an established neighbourhood with amenities that have increased exponentially over the last two years,” notes Alan Perlis, chief operating officer with Knightstone Capital Management Inc. He credits the changing streetscape in their decision to build the midrise of 74 units including seven two-storey townhomes. The location, nearby amenities and building itself — a dog spa will be included — combine to offer residents an “all-encompassing lifestyle,” he says.

It’s a similar scenario to the south where Toronto’s burgeoning east waterfront will see the erection of Great Gulf Homes’ 40-storey Monde tower of 500-plus condos with ground-level stores, parks, walking and bike paths, and transit on its doorstep.

And in west-end Roncesvalles Village, the Howard Park condo and townhouse project calls itself a “community within a community” for the range of amenities both inside and outside its walls.

Which brings us back to vibrant Port Credit where the all-inclusive neighbourhood means Parklane’s builder can focus on the homes themselves. Buyers can choose from suites ranging from 2,169 to 3,100 square feet with nine- and 10-foot ceilings, engineered wood floors, privacy screens on rooftop terraces, high-end appliances and European-designed cabinetry. Kitchen and breakfast areas have heated floors and either quartz or granite countertops.

The “spectacular” and flexible design plans mean homebuyers can decide such things as the placement and size of the bedrooms, says MacKay, 52 Pick-up’s vice-president of client services. She sees the target market as urban professionals, perhaps families, and downsizers who still want comfort and space but less maintenance.

David Culham hopes there might be a green thumb or two among them. As chair of Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens’ stewardship committee, he oversees the small army of volunteers who assist two staffers with the weeding, pruning and cultivating.

And he can’t say enough about the place that Tong Hahn calls “one of the crown jewels” of Mississauga that even has a rose named after long-serving Mayor Hazel McCallion.

“There’s nothing like it in Toronto,” boasts Culham. “It’s a very beautiful place year-round that people very much enjoy and come back to. It has an atmosphere of contemplation and visual stimulation.”

Parklane sounds like a perfect fit, he says. “I wouldn’t mind living there myself.”

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